Ray Lewis: Street Fighter

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The Ravens All-Pro tackles NFL Street and a mailbox. Exclusive new gameplay video and screens inside.

By Jon Robinson

Ray Lewis used to tackle mailboxes. That's all you need to know about the hard-hitting All-Pro linebacker who intimidates opponents with his fierce scowl and raging biceps. He's a former Super Bowl MVP, he's the biggest playmaking linebacker since Lawrence Taylor, and he does a nifty Michael Jackson impersonation (crotch grab and all) as he runs out of the tunnel before each game.

Like most NFL players, though, Ray got his start in the street, playing pickup games against friends, neighbors, and yes, even the aforementioned mailbox.

IGN sat down with Lewis to talk about his days knocking heads on the asphalt, and what he thinks of EA Sports' latest football creation, NFL Street.

IGN Sports: I hear that when you play videogames, you bet pushups.

Ray Lewis: That's right. On-demand pushups. If you lose, it doesn't matter where you are, if I tell you to pay up, whether it's at practice, in the locker room, in the hotel, at a restaurant...wherever, you're paying up right there. And the more we play, the more pushups accumulate to where someone's gonna owe me like 1,000 one day, and I'm going to make them pay. I've been doing that since college.

IGN Sports: Madden's the game of choice right now, but are you also looking forward to NFL Street?

Ray Lewis: That Street game, that's going to be on the humbug if you win. It's like starting over because you gotta know who to pick. You don't want offensive lineman because your players have to go both ways, so you want to take the best athletes. Sure, someone like Orlando Pace might rough guys up at the line on offense and defense, I mean, he'll do his work at the line, but once you run by him, he's out of the play. That's your negative right there. NFL Street is real cool, though. It's just a great game.

IGN Sports: In Street, you can put any player at any position, and like you said, everyone has to play both ways. Are you cut out to play corner or wide receiver if you have to?

Ray Lewis: The thing is, your energy level shows all of that, so when you're passing, running, tackling, or trying to cover guys, it takes all of the percentages based off of your skills and calculates that into how each player plays. That's why I think it's best to actually play everyone at their natural positions. It's still kind of real in terms of that. But then when they have to play the other side of the ball and Michael Vick is throwing touchdowns to me behind his back, that's where the fun comes in.

IGN Sports: So what offensive position should we put Ray Lewis play in the game?

Ray Lewis: [laughs] Same position I played in high school...running back. I like to run the ball. That's what's so fun about the game is that you can do anything, from flea flickers to forward laterals to knocking someone into the side of a building. You can be 50-yards down field and have the quarterback flip the ball between his legs to you for a touchdown. I think me and Michael Vick will be a great combination.